The bougu (防具) is a form of armor used in training and competition for kendo and other Japanese weapons-based martial arts. It's composed of four parts:

• Men (面): Combined face mask & shoulder protection.
• Kote (小手): Hand and forearm protection, usually with a mitten-like glove.
• Dou (胴): A breastplate for chest & stomach protection.
• Tare (垂): A belt of heavy cloth flaps to protect the groin and waist. The center flap often has a place for the name of who the competitor is representing.

Practitioners of naginatajutsu also wear:

• Sune-ate (すね当て): Shin-guards.

See also

• List of armor
• Wikipedia (English): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bōgu.
• Wikipedia (Japanese): http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/防具_(剣道).

The following tags are aliased to this tag: kendo_armor (learn more).

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